Worcester's Rodriguez dominates HBO bout

The fight belonged to Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez from the opening seconds when, as promised, he went after Jason Escalera with both fists churning. Worcester's undefeated super middleweight contender stunned Escalera with an uppercut after about 30 seconds and so dominated the first round that it was scored 10-8, a margin usually reserved for a knockdown.

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA

Referee Steve Smoger holds up the arm of Edwin Rodriguez after his eighth-round TKO of Jason Escalera.

The fight belonged to Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez from the opening seconds when, as promised, he went after Jason Escalera with both fists churning.

Worcester's undefeated super middleweight contender stunned Escalera with an uppercut after about 30 seconds and so dominated the first round that it was scored 10-8, a margin usually reserved for a knockdown.

But after seeing that Escalera was able to take a punch, Rodriguez reeled in his attack slightly and "carried him a little bit in a few rounds," still dominating and winning the first seven on all three judges' scorecards.

When Escalera stumbled coming out of his corner for the eighth round, Rodriguez went in for the kill, pinning him in the corner and landing several sharp punches to his head. Referee Steve Smoger stepped in after just 12 seconds to stop the carnage, and Rodriguez (22-0-0, 15 knockouts) had retained his USBA title before an HBO television audience and a near-sellout crowd last night at Foxwoods Casino's MGM Grand Theater.

It was the performance that Rodriguez, ranked third in the WBC, needed to take the next step in his world title quest. Having scored an impressive victory against an unbeaten fighter on HBO, he now wants a meeting with another top-10 opponent, preferably former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik -- if not a world title fight.

"I want one of the top 10 guys -- I'm ready," the 27-year-old Dominican native said, even admitting he would move up to light heavyweight (175 pounds) for the right opportunity. "My goal is to be a world champion at 168, but if anything opens up at '75, I'm all for it."

Rodriguez and his manager, Larry Army Jr., reasoned that because he's 6-foot-1, the former two-time national amateur champion could easily handle the extra weight and step up. In fact, Rodriguez fought as a light heavyweight one year in the Golden Gloves after missing the entry deadline for middleweights, and he made it all the way to the semifinals of the national tournament.

"If it was the right amount of money and the right opponent," Army said, "we would do 175 in a second. Edwin has the body and the height to succeed at either level.

"Obviously, if he can go to '68 and we can get a big fight, if these guys aren't afraid to fight him, then it's a better thing for us because he's going to be the bigger guy in the ring. But he's going to be just as big as any light heavyweight out there right now."

It was amazing that Escalera survived his first-round pummeling. The bell saved him, as it did in the fifth round, which one judge also scored 10-8.

The stoppage appeared premature to some in the crowd who watched the replay on the big screen, but the ring doctor and Smoger had been watching Escalera in his corner the last four rounds for signs of wear.

"I noticed a progression -- each shot was hurting him more," Smoger told the T&G. "At the end, Edwin would come on, the kid would take shots and then respond. But there comes a point, responding or not, and the doctor told me, 'Anything significant in Round 8 and it's over.' That was significant."

Escalera was asked to comment, but he was rushed off to a hospital to have stitches in his right ear, which was bleeding furiously after being cut by a left hook from Rodriguez during the final fusilade.

"I hurt him in the first round," Rodriguez said. "I threw a lot of punches, but I felt like I was getting tired, that I was trying to push it a little bit too much, so I slowed down a little bit.

"I kept playing with him just because I was so upset with everything that went on at the weigh-in, him trying to talk and give me the little smile and stuff, it kind of got to me a little bit."

Rodriguez, who had predicted a knockout before the sixth round, even dropped his hands later in the fight against a puncher who had knocked out 12 of his first 14 opponents. Not a good idea normally.

"I just wanted him to feel confident a little bit so he would give me more openings," Rodriguez said. "I was hitting him at will at one point. ... I wasn't really myself in the ring, putting my hands down and showboating a little bit, but I just wanted him to know I had him."